Crotokatax was lost in his thoughts while watching the vice praetor of Rome, who had just gotten appointed last night.
Suddenly, Martius went up the stage and reported to Davos, “Your Majesty, the fleet from Ostia has arrived at the river port.”
Davos became overjoyed upon hearing that, “Asistes, Nicomachus, Antrapolis…and the others have finally arrived. We can finally start discussing the governance and transformation of the city of Rome!”
Davos glanced at the unruly crowd at the start had become somewhat orderly. Then he spoke to those around him and said, “Let's go to the river port and greet the newly arrived statesmen and officials!”
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
While Davos headed to the river port, Camillus was leading the Roman army back with their vanguard already reaching Signia.
Camillus was currently on horseback, which deviated from Rome's military tradition where the army's leader should march alongside the soldiers on foot. However, Camillus had a special circumstance: he could no longer keep pace with the soldiers on foot due to his advanced age. Recognising this and his exceptional achievements, the Senate permitted him to ride a horse.
But even riding on horseback, the two consecutive days of rapid marching left his elderly body exhausted. After seeing the equally exhausted soldiers beside him, he decided to have the army camp and rest upon reaching Praeneste so that they could fight with vigour and strength against the Theonians attacking the city of Rome.
Just as Camillus began conceiving possible plans for their battle with the Theonians in his mind, a Roman messenger came speeding towards them.
Seeing the anxiousness in the messenger's eyes, Camillus took the letter Maegius wrote with a trace of uneasiness rising in his heart. He swept a glance at the letter's content, and the sentence “the fall of Rome” instantly made his heart and breath stop in an instant as regret, sadness, self-blame, exhaustion…and all kinds of negative emotions surged towards his head, causing him to feel dizzy and fall off the horse.
“Father!”
“Lord Camillus!!”
“Lord Dictator!!”
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
The anxious shoutings woke up Camillus. Seeing the guards and soldiers gathering around him, he subconsciously clenched his right hand, still holding onto the letter. He then hurriedly said, “I'm fine, don't worry! It might be because I am too tired…”
The captain of the guard said with concern, “My lord, it seems you need to take some rest!”
“Indeed, I need to take a rest!” Camillus went with the flow and said, “Lucius, have the soldiers continue marching while I rest here for a while and will catch up.”
Lucius looked at his father lying on the ground and then at the messenger standing beside him, remaining silent. Although puzzled, he didn't inquire about it and just obeyed the command.
Thus under the urging of Lucius, the soldiers returned to their ranks.
Camillus, on the other hand, closed his eyes and rested under his guards' protection.
But no one knew that a turbulent wave was rising in his heart.
‘The Theonians have conquered the city of Rome? How are the people inside faring?!!
What method did the Theonians use to capture the sturdy city of Rome so quickly?!!
With the Theonians easily repelling the rescue operations of Quintus and Furius, could it be that the Theonians stabilise the situation inside the city so quickly?!!
What reaction would the soldiers have once they learned the Theonians had occupied our homeland?!!’
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
As numerous thoughts flashed through Camillus' mind at the same time, he forced his dizzy head to calm down and try to clear his chaotic thoughts.
After some time had passed, he finally opened his eyes and called Lucius with a decisive expression. He then asked him to notify all the troops to stop advancing once they arrived in Signia and wait for his next order.
He then sent someone to notify the high-ranking officer to attend the war council immediately.
Before long, Publius Licinius, Quinctius Cincinnatus, Aurus Cornelius, Servius Sulpicius…and Milesius Cornelius, who had delivered the Senate's order, arrived one after another.
Camillus looked at every general solemnly and said, “Before I share the important news with you, I need you to make a promise. Promise me that you will stay calm, avoiding making any obvious signs of panic, such as anger or shouting. Can you assure me of that?!”
The generals looked at each other, unsure of what happened but could feel that the situation wasn't good.
Titus hurriedly asked, “Lord Dictator, is it about Rome-”
Camillus didn't respond. Instead, he asked again in a serious tone, “Can you promise me?!”
At this moment, Camillus was no longer the elderly man who always smiled when talking about military affairs and instead was like a beast ready to pounce at anyone at any time.
Everyone trembled and immediately responded simultaneously, “We promise!!”
Camillus glanced at them again and said gravely, “I just received the war report… Yesterday…Rome had fallen! The Theo…nians are now occupying it!”
Even though they had mentally prepared themselves, they still clenched their fist tightly as shock, scepticism, pain, anger, and other intense emotions took hold of their faces, with their eyes darting around, and their breaths became rapid.
“Lord Dictator is this…is this news real?!” Licinius asked in a trembling voice.
“The messenger brought the letter personally written by Maegius, which also stated that Quintus and Furius had failed in their rescue. Currently, the defeated soldiers are gathering in Praeneste, with many people who luckily escaped Rome now staying between Gabii and Praeneste…”
“We must immediately recapture Rome!” Servius said while suppressing his voice and clenching his fists so tightly to the point of bleeding.
“We will certainly recapture Rome! But first and foremost, we must ensure that the soldiers do not run amok upon learning the news, and we need to stabilise the army.” Camillus said his proposal.
After some discussion, the generals rushed back to their army.
“Father…mother and sister, they-” Lucius said worryingly but couldn't continue.
“Alas…” Camillus only sighed and didn't say anymore as he staggered towards the warhorse the guards brought.
Lucius hurriedly came forward to help his elderly father.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
When they arrived at Signia, Camillus met another messenger sent by Maegius.
The messenger reported that most of the senators and some of the people managed to retreat to Mons Capitolinus, which surprised Camillus and made him more hopeful.
In the afternoon, the Roman generals gathered the nearly sixty thousand Roman soldiers and led them in the area between Signia’s city wall and the banks of the Trerus River.
Standing atop Signia's city wall, Dictator Camillus faced the dense and endless line of soldiers below, with the mountain wind dishevelling his white hair. Despite his aged body, he stood tall and resolute. Then, he exclaimed, “Citizens of Rome, warriors of our allied city-states. Instead of fully enjoying the joy of conquering the Hernicans, we are here rushing back because the enemy had attacked our home, the centre of Latium – Rome! Unfortunately, the Theonians had already occupied the city of Rome yesterday before we could even arrive!”
The hundreds of heralds who had received the instruction of Camillus in advance lined up along the line of soldiers below the city wall and repeated Camillus' words to the whole army.
Suddenly, it was as if a massive gust of wind blew past them, stirring up a huge wave in the entire army.
“The enemy has conquered the city of Rome! My wife and children are still in the city!!!”
“What should I do? Those damn bastards must have already taken the money I had finally saved to buy livestock!”
“O Jupiter, what have we done wrong for you to punish us so cruelly!? This is the second time Rome has fallen. What should we do?!”
“Why are we still standing here foolishly when the enemy has occupied Rome?! We should hurry to Rome to drive away those bastards and take back our home!!”
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
The generals, such as Licinius and Titus, told their centurions in advance about the fall of Rome and asked them to do their best to stabilise the soldiers' emotions. But despite their efforts, the soldiers' emotions were like boiling water, and the entire army was on the verge of a breakdown.
Suddenly, a group of defeated soldiers arrived from the north with missing armour, and many were even wounded. After squeezing through the gap between the army, they finally arrived before the city of Signia.
Their miserable appearance naturally attracted the attention of many soldiers.
“Isn't that Ligurus?! I remember he followed General Quintus to rescue Rome!”
“It seems they suffered a miserable defeat!”
“The army led by General Quintus and Furius are all our bravest citizens, with many of them winning Civic Crowns! Could it be that these Theonians are as terrifying as the Celts?!”
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Just as the soldiers began speculating their uneasiness, the heralds transmitted Camillus' words into their ears, “The Theonians are so powerful that they had not only occupied our home but also defeated the reinforcements led by Quintus and Furius. So if we want to take back our homeland and save our loved ones, we must unite and do our best to drive out this powerful enemy!…”
Comments